Halo: Downfall from Within
by Jacob Feagley
Summary: Spartans are emotionless killing machines, created to defend Earth and all her colonies. Or are they? How will the introduction of a particular Spartan-III and a massive Sangheili commander return a Spartan from an emotionless machine to human, or more importantly, how will it turn the tides of the Human-Covenant War? Rated T for now. Updates will be sporadic.


The past few months Noble Team, a team of Spartan-IIIs Supersoldiers and a single Spartan-II commando has been in general chaos. Having to be delayed missions for two months while the Office of Naval Intelligence searched for a replacement for the original Noble Six, Thom-A293, who died in the Battle of Fumirole, and having been attacked and forced to relocate from Fumirole to Reach by multiple Covenant Kill Teams. Were the kill teams not comprised of Sangheili Zealots, Explosive experts, and two pairs of Mgalekgolo, Noble and the stationed marines might have been able to hold them off.

After nearly two more months, ONI finally found a replacement for Thom, a lone wolf by the callsign of B-312. Virtually silent, file practically dipped in black ink, not much was available to learn about her. Noble was given roughly three weeks to accommodate and welcome the new Noble Six before they were given their first major task on the home planet of Spartans. On July 24, 2552, Noble's objective was Visegrád, a small town in the Highland Mountains of Eposz. Roughly fifty kilometers from the village was a major communications outpost. This, among only two others, are responsible for the planet's communications. Engagement with Covenant forces has been confirmed, however their numbers have remained relatively low, the worst the Spartans having to endure was a Sangheili Kill Squad, most likely deployed to clean up whatever remained of the marine-comprised investigation team sent out the previous day. This rhythm of small waves of invaders was soon thrown apart.

The moment, Noble One, Five, and Six hit boots on the ground at the Relay, they shot, stabbed, kicked, punched, and shoved their way through the horde of cannon fodder to regroup with Noble Two and Four at the entrance, where Two was hacking her way through the station's security in order to seal the thick metal door and prevent Covenant forces from getting in.

Ten minutes in and almost half of the cannon fodder has been wiped out by Noble, most of the kills awarded to Six and Five. In its place is nearly thirty Sangheili Minors, Majors, and Ultras, with five Generals in the back hammering the entrance with explosive plasma and ballistic radioactive shells.

"Out!" Six heard Noble Four shout as he launched the last grenade from his M319. "I can't hit them with shells from here sir!" He followed up to Noble One.

"Dry!" Called out Five as he receded back into the building, dropping his chain gun and grabbing two MA37s from the wall.

"Carter I just need a few more minutes!" Noble Two shouted to her commander over the hail of bullet and plasma fire.

"We don't have a few more minutes! Hack faster or we're dead!" Carter shouted, throwing two grenades in a desperate attempt to keep the Sangheili horde from storming the entrance.

Six looked around. Dozens of elites, two Spirit drop ships and four banshees bombing overhead. She knew there was no way they'd be holding this position. She looked to the back of the opposing army and saw the Generals roar, dropping their weapons. Her blood froze as she saw the rest of the officer-class elites follow in suit. The golden elites flicked their arms, and the blades of their personal energy swords bursted to life. Not ten seconds later and another eight blades exploded within the elite ranks.

"Kat I get that door shut NOW! We can't buy any more time!" The Spartan commander ordered.

"Done!" Kat exclaimed, and as if obeying her words, the door started to slide shut, albeit painfully slowly.

"Get this thing moving faster, they're not going to wait forever!" Carter commanded as the swordsmen began maneuvering their way through the mass of alien.

Six threw two plasma grenades at the approaching charge, blasting three to pieces and severely injuring four others. Halfway through her magazine, the flash suppressor at the end of the barrel suddenly popped, rendering the rifle useless. The Sangheili must have sensed this through the lessened volume of bullets, and picked up their speed as a result.

"Everybody inside! Go, go, go!" Carter ordered, retreating into the building. Six was pinned down behind an exploded forklift with just a half-empty M6G for a weapon.

"C'mon Six! We've got you covered!" Emile promised, pumping a slug into the chest of a minor who got too close.

"Now or never Lieutenant." Carter warned. Taking a deep breath, the black spartan dove out into the open, forward rolling before getting up to her feet and sprinting. However, as she began her run, she was promptly side-kicked by a massive Sangheili unseen in the engagement until now. Easily surpassing nine feet, the elite sported two Type-52s, something the female hasn't seen any of its kind do before. Her breath abandoned her body, and she was left on the ground in a daze, feeling a heavy hoof pressing down on her stomach. She gasped for breath as the weight of the elite forced itself on her diaphragm, preventing her from drawing breath. In her blurred vision, she saw the armor it wore to be a dark maroon, marking it as a zealot. It's left hand raised its blade, but before it could swiftly end the life of the hyper-lethal super soldier, a volley of small arms fire pelted its shielding, nearly depleting it. The elite was forced back to cover as Six quickly recovered.

"Six, run!" Carter screamed, the door nearly closed. The female shook her head and broke into a sprint once more, covering the short distance in three long strides. She allowed herself to slam into the glass barrier of the security desk, cracking it immensely. Right before the door shut, she caught a glance of the zealot that had almost ended her life. The head dress and shoulder plates were instantly recognizable. The massive Sangheili that stared back at her was one of nine leaders ONI had for her future assassination targets. He was none other than Xudo 'Vranomee.

The door sealed shut, and heavy bolt locks slid into place, spinning multiple times and ensuring that the enraged Covenant outside would be granted no access. Six stood their leaning against the glass for a moment to recollect her breath.

"Did you see the size of that thing?! Who's been giving the covies Two-a-Day commander?" Emile chuckled, attempting to bring comic relief to the heavy situation.

Ignoring the weapons assault specialist, Noble One approached Six and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Any injuries?"

"None sir." Six responded, taking one more deep breath before standing straight up. "Nothing short of a miracle. Dual swords out there nearly had you. Never seen one with shields like that." Jorge commented.

"Regardless of what's out there, we still have a job to do. Emile, stay here with the door, don't let anything by you." Carter ordered, receiving the sound of Four pumping his shotgun as acknowledgement.

"Jorge, take point. Scour the area, see what you can find." With the command, the four Spartans made their way deeper into the station.

The following minutes were filled with tense silence. Each individual keeping themselves on edge for the smallest of shifts in the shadows. Kat was inspecting a console network mounted in the wall, Jorge was searching around a series of supply closets, and Carter was questioning an injured marine, who was leaned against the wall with an unsettling amount of blood on his armor.

Six turned over the body of what looked like a scientist, and found a data chip in his coat pocket. "Found something." She announced to Kat, holding it up.

"I'll take that Six, not your domain." Two responded in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"Got a live one over here!" Jorge called out as he gently dragged a civilian out from under a set of stairs. She was frantically hitting his chest armor and shouting in what Six recognized as Hungarian. Jorge quickly grew fed up with this and put down his chain gun and gripped her arms firmly. "Keep still, and I'll release you."

The girl grew silent, and in a voice dripping with fear, spoke just over a whisper. "Még... Itt vannak." Six quickly translated in her head. _They are still here._ Eyes growing wide, Six raised her rifle.

"Get down!" Right as the words left her mouth, three zealots dropped from an opening, one armed with an energy sword. Jorge narrowly dodged the deadly weapon, shielding the civilian with his body. Six open fired as the elite attempted to cut down Kat, who was saved by Carter. The Sangheili roared and charged Six, bowling over her and down a hallway.

Before Six could recover, another zealot pressed a knee down on her chest and stabbing her with some kind of needle. It went right through every layer of her armor and into her jugular. She felt something incredibly hot being injected into the vein, which for some reason, terrified her. Reacting as fast as she could, Six punched the elite in the face, feeling a faint crack from one of its mandibles. The elite shook its head a roared before being kicked off of her by One. Quickly standing back up with her rifle in hands, she only saw a glimpse of the two zealots with the injured, now most definitely dead marine as a shield.

"Two, handle her! Five and Six, clear the hole!" Carter ordered, keeping his marksman rifle trained on the doorway. Jorge and Six marched forward, the ladder loading a fresh magazine into her MA37 before hearing Jorge slam the door shut behind them.

Ten minutes later, Six and Jorge had taken out one of the two zealots, two dozen grunts, and seven jackals. As they approached the final room, Six felt her limbs begin to grow heavy. Her breathing became labored, and her legs began to feel like they were made of lead and jelly.

"Flush them out. I've got you covered." Jorge nodded, pulling the charging slide back on his chain gun. Six shook her head and attempted to ignore the feeling as she pushed on with only two magazines left. She bounced in between data storage pillars, luring the Unggoy out from the control room. Jorge made quick work of the cannon fodder, which left the two Spartans with the final zealot.

"The elite isn't going to be stupid, be careful Six." Jorge warned. At this point, Six couldn't muster the energy to respond. Whatever that zealot had injected her with was making quick work of her. She knew that she was pressed for time, and that she wouldn't have the ability to fight much longer. Slowly making her way into the control room, she pealed the right corner in search of the last zealot.

Suddenly a massive Sangheili hand wrapped around her rifle. She attempted to kick out the knee of the elite, but found her leg near impossible to lift. Her blood froze as she watched the elites hand crush the assault rifle and rip it out of her grip. "You feel the poison, do you not?" She heard a deep voice with an unmistakable accent. Spending months researching intel and documentation over her top priority target, she practically memorized every sliver of information ONI had on him. Looking up, she got the briefest of glimpses of the speaker before being slammed back into a concrete wall, cracking it in the process.

"You feel your limbs turn to lead. Your mind cloud. Resistance is futile, _B-312_." The Sangheili put emphasis on her callsign. Her jaw quivered as fear froze her blood. "Xudo… Jorge, g-get backup." She mumbled over the com, her mind slowly losing control over her body and grip on consciousness.

"Six!" Jorge shouted, gripping the trigger of his gun and unloading into the approaching behemoth of an elite. The Sangheili's shields seemed to simply ignore the bullets, barely flickering in reaction. "Commander we need backup immediately!" Jorge shouted over the open team com. Before anyone could respond, the same voice Six heard broke into Noble Teams link.

"Your demon cannot fight back. Her body is lead, and her mind is fog. She belongs to the glorious Covenant now." Jorge was forced to cease fire as the massive elite grabbed Six and held her in front of his body.

"We're almost there! Just hold on!" Carter shouted. Jorge yelled in anger and dropped his chain gun, leaping over the rail and charging at the elite.

The Field Marshall huffed and dropped Six, adopting a fighting stance. Jorge shoulder rammed into the elite, shoving him back nearly a foot. The elite growled and picked up the Spartan-II with a single arm before following up with a powerful side kick. The thousand pound soldier was literally sent through seven feet of air before tumbling another six. Giving the commando no time to respond, the elite slammed the heel of his heavily-armored hoof down onto Jorge's stomach, making him curl up in agony as he tried desperately to breathe.

"Get the fuck away from her!" Emile shouted as One, Two, the newly arrived Three, and Four stormed into the large room. The Marshall chuckled when he felt Emile's buckshot pellets.

The elite picked up Six and held her bridal, despite her nearly motionless attempts of resistance. The elite activated active camouflage and disappeared, with Six along with him. The standing Noble Team simply unloaded into the room, shredding the data pillars and putting dozens of holes into the concrete walls.

As the rain of fire ceased, the team heard a deep chuckle over the comm. Carter looked at his HUD and saw that Colonel Holland was now connected to the channel. "Noble One, repo-."

"Humans. Demons. Be warned. A storm is coming, and my brothers will not be as merciful as I. Prepare for the extinction of your pitiful race." With these final words, they heard a door in the control room open, and heavy footsteps race off into silence.


End file.
